Rick was really ticked off with the mess he made out of his experiment, the smoke that he was choking on, and the racket that Brendon was making upstairs. "Wait till I get a hold of that kid!"
Rick ran up the basement stairs to the tune of the front doorbell that was now ringing in his ears. This had not at all been a good day and he was ready to kick some ass, if only he could. Of all people to be at the door, it turned out to be Brandon's karate teacher who was here for his class.
Rick's anger was bubbling to the surface and he just stood there looking at the man standing in the doorway. Bob was a ten time champion in different martial arts whom Rick had hired at the request of Brendon's mother. He was just about the last person that Rick wanted to see because ever since Brendon started taking the lessons, he wouldn't listen to anything that Rick had told him to do.
Bob acted like Rick wasn't standing there and walked past him and into the living room. "Hey pops, you want to tell Brendon that I'm here for his lesson."
Rick was sick of taking shit from Brendon, this guy, and everybody else. He walked right up to Bob and coughing in his face, he yelled, "I sure wish that I could kick your ass right out of here!" As Rick was coughing, the gas was coming out of his mouth and entered Bob's lungs.
Bob was pissed off because nobody ever dared yell at him and get away with it. He looked Rick right in the eye, coughed, and said, "Whose going to kick (cough) whose (cough) ass? The gas left Bob and was inhaled again by Rick.
Bob stepped back and threw a kick to Rick's head and was shocked when not only did Rick block it, but Rick instinctively did a series of moves that put Bob flying out the front door, which luckily was still open. He then slammed the door shut and vaulted up the stairs to face his step son.
Rick banged on the locked door. "Open up Brandon. How many times do I have to tell you to never lock this door."
Brandon turned the music up to drown out his step dad and he just managed to be out of the way when the door to his room flew by him. He turned around to see Rick standing in the doorway. "NOW I DON'T THINK YOU'LL HAVE A PROBLEM KEEPING THE DOOR UNLOCKED ANYMORE AND TURN OFF THAT CRAP YOU CALL MUSIC!"
Brandon quickly turned off his CD player and just stood there with his mouth open. Rick ran back down to the basement.
Rick sat at his lab table and took a deep breath. The fog that was still in the room went down into his lungs with barely a cough. Rick's pulmonary system was adapting to the new "air" as he went over in his mind the events that had just happened.
"How did I get to be a martial arts expert? Bob came in and what did I do? I coughed in his face and that made him cough. The gas must of gone out of my mouth into his lungs and back out into me. The properties in the gas transfered what I wanted from him back into me. Could it have been a one time occurrence? I have to find out."